In 1973, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), arranged for several of his disciples to go to Mayapura, West Bengal, to study the traditional art of putul (dollmaking). These unfired clay figures are composed of raw materials gathered from the riverbank of the Ganges, traditionally created for holiday festival worship and then submerged back into the Ganges at the end of the season.
Inspired by his guru, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānt